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Wednesday, October 5, 2022

Country Music Mourns Loss Of Coal Miner's Daughter


Loretta Lynn, whose ascent from a small Kentucky coal-mining community to national country music stardom literally became the stuff of Hollywood, died on Tuesday (Oct. 4). She was 90, reports Billboard. According to a statement from her family, Lynn passed away in her sleep at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.


Lynn’s life story was memorably retold in Michael Apted’s 1980 feature Coal Miner’s Daughter, based on Lynn’s 1976 memoir. Sissy Spacek won both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for her portrayal of the singer.

Beyond the dramatic particulars of her life, Lynn, who recorded 16 No. 1 country singles, was among the music’s groundbreaking female singing stars.

She became one of the music’s brightest luminaries in an era when men dominated country. She wrote much of her hit material, and it was sharply-penned stuff, written from the point of view of a woman (usually a married one) who would take no guff from her man. And she did not shrink from controversial subject matter.

Lynn was born Loretta Webb on April 14, 1932 in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky. “I’m always making Butcher Hollow sound like the most backward part of the United States — and I think maybe it is,” she wrote in her autobiography.

Dolly Parton added her voice to the swell of condolences and tributes as news of Loretta Lynn's death spread Tuesday morning.

"We've been like sisters all the years we've been in Nashville and she was a wonderful human being, wonderful talent, had millions of fans and I'm one of them," Parton wrote on social media. "I'll miss her dearly, as we all will. May she rest in peace."



An air of quiet sadness blanketed the rolling hills of Loretta Lynn's ranch and home Tuesday afternoon, hours after the news of her death was announced, reports The Tennessean.  Nestled in the heart of the sprawling property, fans and mourners gathered to place flowers at the gates of her historic home and commemorate the singer's monumental impact on country music.

Humphrey County Sheriff Chris Davis stood watch over the growing crowd.

“It’s a rough day today,” he said, visibly emotional. "We received a call around 8:05 a.m. that Mrs. Loretta had passed earlier. She was surrounded by her family and loved ones and passed peacefully.”

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